Tag Archives: taxes

It has been a nice day. No rain. Ha Ha. Still cold and frosty when we walked at 6:45 am. On Sundays, we try and go later and give ourselves a little break. Tomorrow marks the end of month 7 of year 4 of walking every day in the just keep walking project. I think the worst day last week was when the wind was blowing, the rain was pouring, and I was coughing. We only did 1 round. But intentional walking.

I went to the gym and it was very empty so that was nice. They do keep the music a little loud for my tastes but I put my earbuds in and it lessens the noise.

I’m certainly anxious about my labs this week but will go forth and hope for the best. I still feel good but with myeloma, sometimes that’s tricky. But even if my numbers go up( which is the trend) I think they’re still going to be in the normal range.

We finished our taxes with Turbo Tax and it was pretty easy. Changing the deductions and upping our 401 k last year will yield us a refund. First time in years. So yeah for that.

Of course, I have to write something about Trump and his insanity and instability. i am really scared of where all this is going. The man is certifiably nuts. His reality is so warped. The pictures of the inauguration show fewer people. He tried to get the NPS to actually find pictures that showed his inaccurate statement of it was million and a half people. It clearly was not. But he still believes it was plus the voter fraud. There was no voter fraud to the tune of 3-4 million illegal votes. it just is impossible and he will not see reason because he is a narcissist who cannot accept he didn’t win the popular vote. But what starts getting scarier is this administration trying to take away a womens’ right to an abortion. We are going back to the 1960’s people. Wake up. You may not believe in abortion for yourself but we must as women have the right to decide. Not some politician or man in Washington.

Then the whole immigration thing is almost more than I can take. Why is he excluding the 4 countries including Saudia Arabia that was responsible for 9/11. Because he has business dealings there. That’s the long and short of it. Closing immigration is not going to keep us safer. Right now the vetting system is extensive. It takes over 2 years to get a visa. What are these people thinking , it is just insanity. Then on Holocaust Remberence day for the President of the United States to not even say it was the Jews who were the target and millions of Jews died at the hands of the Nazis is utter disrespect for the whole tragic thing. To just say innocent people died is to undermine how tragic the Holocaust was. Millions of JEWS were murdered in gas chambers. Yes, many others did too but the whole reason for Nazi Germany was to eliminate the Jewish race. It was unbelievably disrespectful of Donald Trump to say what he said. The White Supremacists want people to believe it didn’t happen the way it did. They want it to be just ‘innocent’ people, not Jews.

This is wrong and I hope to the stars that we get thru this.

Dinner is a red lentil curry soup and some left over potroast I was going to shred and put on some tortillas.

i just put in all of Aprils bills and now it’s on to transferring the money for the taxes. It’s a little hard to see that money go…….. To the government? Yikes. Oh well , next year we won’t be hit with this so, best to just bite the bullet. (What does that mean anyway!) April is a 3 paycheck month. Not sure that makes a lot of difference but perhaps that will give us a chance to build up our sinking funds.

In July we will have a bump in income as our health plan costs will go down. I’m planning on putting that over in savings. Then get back to putting my husbands pay increase back in too. So, maybe by July we will start getting back to really saving as all the big stuff will have been done.

We’re still trying to figure out about buying the Santa Fe . It’s my 15 year old van that pulls our tent trailer, and therein lies the problem. It’s great for me driving back and forth to the library(3 miles), but to go on any trips. It’s a little iffey. Next week is our first camping trip I scheduled to bodega bay. And we will use the van. So it’s 3 1/2 hours away. But I think we will be ok(I hope). We do have AAA, so if anything does go wrong. Also, we know my van needs some major engine work at $1500, but we just don’t want to do it now.

So back to the Santa Fe, my husbands company basically pays for the car payments but we still need to buy it. That means probably some down payment. He’s driving a 2012 Elantra which is a terrific car. So, what to do? I guess we will see how the trip to the coast goes and then decide.

Costco went well yesterday. Spent @ $200, but that included lots of non food items. Jeans for B, and snacks for the upcoming mini sales for the library. Plus using coupons for laundry detergent and oxo. So not bad, and we even bought a lemon Meyer tree that we’ve been waiting for Costco to get in. We may go back on Sunday to pick up another.

This is my week off dex, and revlimid, so it’s nice when I can do something extra since I don’t feel so wiped out.

We also went to Trader joes for wine and tea, and some other misc, and winco for just a few items that are cheaper there.

I’m hoping to get more seeds planted either today after work or over the weekend. We’re suppose to get rain by next Friday, so it would be good to get them in. Next week is another blood test and my appt with Dr. l and my zometa. Last time I got a fever after zometa so I’ll be sure to extra hydrate, and take some Tylenol. I haven’t had zometa in 6 months and I do worry about bone involvement but since my numbers are low it should be ok. Next month I’m due for my yearly X-rays. So we shall see.

The budget numbers are ok, I put $100 over in Santa, and may do another because, everything else is going to taxes. If I put it in Santa we can’t touch it till November so…everythings paid till Aprils house payment, which is automatic. So that’s all good. Taxes will come out before April 15. I’ll transfer it from extra savings and EF somewhere in the first week of April.

Honestly, I don’t know if any more money can come out of our EF. The septic pumping cost almost $500. Where is all this stuff coming from. We are not saving, and barely breaking even with bills and paycheck . Then anything extra is coming out of the EF. The car on Monday was$350. It’s been a rough week. I still need to figure out when to transfer the tax money and that won’t be pretty. I’m really hoping once that’s done we can really buckle down and just save. No extras. Ha, was pumping the septic extra? I don’t think so.

But, we are saving thru the 401 so at least that’s set. And with the w4 change we should be ok for next years taxes. I still worry about how are we going to manage at retirement. Should we just sell and rent? Rents in this area are pretty high, but the question is what does the next 5 years bring with savings ,health, etc.

On another note, our weather is beautiful and should be for a few days more. Almost 70 degrees . Nice.

i have some potatoes and onion to plant this weekend and 2 rose bushes that I can’t decide where to put. We’re still trying to plan the front yard as garden but I’m not sure how much we can afford to put into it.

It is pretty bad. Worst than I had calculated. We figured we be hit by the stock sale and we were but without our son as a dependent because he claimed himself, it added more. Well, it’s done. We have it set for April 10. I can’t make it up in those 2 months but maybe I can get a small part put aside. We did put the $6000 away for this but since it’s more we will just have to be really careful with any spending and that means getting the Santa Fe is off the table. I’m going to try and get my van in to the shop and get at least the shocks done so pulling the tent trailer will be better.

It’s mid week, and I’m a little off my game. Haven’t blogged in a few days,, so here’s some catch up. Walking is going ok. We are on day 252. Still only doing 2 miles but I think when the weather is warmer I’ll want to do more. This morning it was 28* ,thats cold. We are also finally in for rain over the next week. We do need it but it changes the morning routine.

Work was ok yesterday, I still have a bit of a sinus thing going on so not feeling 100%. I had put on a nice split pea soup for dinner in the crock pot. Then my daughter used her hair dryer and blew the circuit so when I got home from work the split pea soup in the crock pot was uncooked since it turned off. Fortunately, split pea only takes an hour on the stove ,so in to a pot it went. Then my son and his new girl friend call and see if they can eat with us… Uhh, ok I guess, it’s a good thing I put that soup on the stove.

I’m off to the drop stuff off at the thrift store and go to staples, and the the grocery store for a few things. I’m going to try and keep food budget at or under $500. So I only want to buy essentials. I put Santa $ away from this check and our 0 savings(which is for sinking funds). I also need to call propane and that’s going to be a hit. Also, our taxes are going to be a hit but we expected that with the stock sale last year. Somehow it’s all gone but that’s life here. It’s always something.

I also, was reading Joshua Becketts new book on clutter free kids( not exact title.), but realized my next phase of minimalism is to work on the having only one item of something. I’ve decluttered most everything in the house, but my 2 adult children’s rooms(that’s their domain ), but I still feel there’s too much. Maybe getting rid of duplicates will help, or some furniture. We don’t have a lot if furniture but maybe there’s something I can look at differently.This part of our front room , notice the new grateful dead albums recently framed.

This week in the Flylady zone, I did the kitchen. Always a big job and I broke down and bought her calendar , which I think is the best for writing on. I had bought one at staples with coupons but the dates were just not bold enough. So I’m happy which the Flylady one.

I'm a wife and mom of three young kids - ages 10, 8 and 7 and I just happen to have cancer. Multiple Myeloma is a cancer of the blood that is currently incurable but IS considered highly treatable! My goal is to make people laugh, cry or feel a little less alone whether you are a mom, cancer patient or BOTH!